May 10, 2015

Blvd Tavern opens in the Kansas City Crossroads

Chef Derek Nacey and his wife, Meghan, proudly opened the doors this Spring to their new gastropub, Blvd Tavern, located at 320 Southwest Boulevard in the Crossroads.

“My food at Blvd Tavern is an adventuresome collection of influences from all over the world,” said Nacey, “it allows me a lot of freedom to cook across the various cuisines and influences.”

Although most of the dishes on his menu look as American as apple pie, a closer look reveals that each dish offers a subtle international twist. Take his best selling appetizer, called the KFC, which stands for Korean Fried Chicken, served with house-made napa cabbage kimchi. It looks like basic fried chicken, but this chicken has been breaded and fried, not once, but twice, in a nicely spiced batter.

Other standouts on the entrée side of the menu, is the British classic fish and chips. Crispy beer-battered cod is served with salt and vinegar fries and mushy peas. Exactly the type of food you would expect from your neighborhood pub.

But the menu item that will win raving fans is the Grilled Rochester White Hot. This is a throwback dish to Chef Nacey’s childhood in New York. A White Hot is a house-made sausage of finely ground pork and veal. It is served on a soft bun topped with pickled onion, cucumber and mustard seed and a nice potato salad.

“This is the dream. This is what I have always wanted to do,” he said his chest swelling with pride as he speaks about Blvd Tavern.

“I knew I wanted to have a place one day where I could use my classical culinary training to elevate comfort food in a casual, come-as-you-are kind of place.”

That is exactly the vibe the couple delivers at Blvd Tavern with the décor, as well. Big windows where you can sit and watch the world go by, a cozy outdoor patio, a long bar with a little less than half of the 65 seats in the restaurant snuggled up at it.

The Nacey’s opened up the front windows to let some much needed light into the space, and they repainted the entire space with homey shade of blue. Weathered wood around windows and doorways come from an old family farm, Edison lights and a mishmosh assortment of farm chairs and custom made benches warm up the space nicely against the exposed brick walls. The overall effect is cozy and casual, just like the couple themselves.

The new bar manager at Blvd Tavern is Valdez Campos, whose laid back demeanor makes his bar a welcome port for anyone looking for a place to land for a quiet drink or a meal. Campos is a talented and popular craft cocktail bartender in town, and his bar will soon be hopping for those looking for an expertly prepared craft cocktail. Highly recommended is the “Picador” made with Tito’s Vodka, Rothman & Winter Cherry Liqueur, house ginger beer and Topo Chico and the “Old Thymer” with J. Reiger Whiskey and thyme syrup. The restaurant also carries a fine selection of craft beer and wines.

Blvd Tavern has been several years in the making for this married couple, both of which have been working in the hospitality business for many years. Nacey is a Hyde Park CIA graduate, and in Kansas City has worked at Fedora’s, Zin and Café Allegro before settling into a corporate job as director of culinary for Houlihan’s for the past 7 years.

Three years ago, they were looking at the space where Melbee’s restaurant used to be located in Mission on Johnson Drive, but they knew the space and the timing wasn’t right, so they waited until the economy improved a bit more before deciding to take over the lease on this restaurant from Bryan Merker, the former owner of Nica's Lagniappe which used to be in this space in the Crossroads.

The restaurant is now open 7 days a week for dinner only, and the bar stays open two hours later than the kitchen. Walk-in’s only, no reservations needed.